mosness

I have a 2010 Honda Civic EX coupe with that "split" instrument panel.

The engine temp gauge normally looks vaguely like a thermometer. In normal driving, about the bottom third or bottom 40% of the gauge thermometer is lit up and the top part is dark.

Well, we had a mild snowstorm, and while I was driving through it, suddenly the temp gauge effectively flipped upside down! The top part was lit up and the bottom part was dark!

After about a minute or two, I heard a "blip" noise from the instrument panel, and the gauge flipped rightside up again!

This happened again once or twice: Instead of the bottom third lit up and the top two-thirds dark (it was very cold here in MA today), suddenly the TOP third was lit up and the BOTTOM two-thirds were dark.

At no time was the engine temp gauge even half lit up, meaning that the engine isn't overheating. So what the heck is happening here?